Apple has decided to pay up for an allegedly stolen clock design in its latest iOS 6 mobile operating system.

IOS 6, which was released last month only days ahead of the iPhone 5, featured a new clock design for the iPad that seemed pretty basic. Just a white face with black, rectangular notches representing the numbers, black hour/minute hands and a red seconds hand. No big deal, right?

Wrong. The iOS 6 clock was nearly identical to a clock design developed by a railway company in Switzerland called Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). SBB said its company created that clock design back in 1944.

SBB's clock [left] and Apple's iOS 6 clock design (right)

[Image Source: IBN Live]

When SBB became aware of the stolen design, it immediately contacted Apple in hopes of some sort of licensing agreement.

"We are proud that this icon of clock design is being used by a globally successful company," said Reto Kormann, SBB spokesperson. "We've approached Apple and told them that the rights for this clock belong to us."

It's interesting to see Apple on the losing end of a copyright infringement claim; especially after the hell it has put Samsung through over mobile patent lawsuits. After a lengthy battle with Samsung around the globe, a U.S. jury found Samsung guilty of copying the iPhone/iPad for its Galaxy line. Not only was Samsung ordered to pay $1.05 billion USD in damages, but a court date on December 6 may lead to more product bans for the South Korean electronics maker. Apple is also looking to boost that $1.05 billion fine to $3 billion.

I think that's why I am so much happier and generally more relaxed than some of you iPhobes, I live in the real world and in that one Apple is doing pretty well. You live in an imaginary world in which Apple is always about to be overwhelmed by Android and so you suffer constant disappointment. Must be very galling.

Glad the clock thing got sorted though - that was the one thing that could have brought Apple crashing down :)

Tony, you silly little man, only you take the choice of Apple or another vendor to the point of some kind of choice driven by extreme sentiments. It's not.

Apple products are a poor value proposition for many people such as myself. It's really that simple, Apple offers nothing that I can't obtain at lower cost and with fewer operating restrictions. It's nothing to get worked up about, I suppose if I were much more helpless with tech I might find the Apple pitch more appealing.

Apple's success as a company is another matter. I have made a boatload of money selling Apple puts this year. Thus the net flow of cash is from Apple to me, which is as it should be.

quote: It turns out that while some of you have been watching videos, playing a game, whatever, on what you thought was a Wi-Fi network, you were actually running up your giant 3G data bill. Apple hasn't commented on this, but on September 30th, Apple quietly released a bug fix for the problem for its Verizon customers.

No. Zero percent impact is impossible to evaluate. You can’t know the admittedly small number of people that would not buy the phone due to this defect.

But, for the sake of argument, let’s assume it is zero percent And that is part of the issue, you know.

If batteries came defective and lasted half the time, you know what would be impact? Zero.

If the screen was an inch larger, you know what would be the impact? Zero.

If the processor had 70% or 130% of its current power, you know what would be the impact? Zero.

Arguments on this line are meaningless.

“Meanwhile in the real world” That is the same world that values a soccer player 100 times more than a Nobel laureate. I have a friend that worked on a jeans factory. 25% of the production was separated for one branding, the other 75% got another. The exact same jeans made 3-4 times more expensive by the tag attached to it. My aunt worked on a store that had a certain brand of perfume that went for $30-40. Since it was not going well, they doubled the price and then some, to $80-100, and sales went UP.

This is the world that you use to validate your opinions?

If you put Android on an IPhone 5 and show to people on the street, many would say how much better is has become since 4S. If you show an IPhone 5 with IOS 2 many would say the same. If you put IOS 6 on a Samsung and show it around to iFans, they would snigger is disdain.

Anyway, about the clock design. They copied it. Plain and simple: “It’s very nice, let’s copy and not pay a dime. We could ask, but they might say no, so we’ll copy and wait until they complain. Then we quietly give some spare change and everyone is happy. If they don’t complain, we get away with it and everyone is even happier. “ Morally wrong? Yup. Business wrong? Not at all. Legally wrong? Not anymore.

But they copied. Can you come down form your stand and admit it? Can you come out here and say:

OH YA. I'm sure our beloved apple would have won the case if it had gone to court in the beloved USA. apple knew better then to fight in a country known for being FAIR in a court of law. No time for them to do any bribing or, not sure if the Swiss know of such a thing as a Lobbyist(Influence Peddler).